Las Fiestas en Zapote

I will probably never again like the Nebraska State Fair very much (not that I did before). The fiestas in Zapote are much more awesome, especially when you have amazing Tico friends with which to experience them. My friends Shamu (his real name is Alfredo, but he really likes Shamu so we call him that...or something) and Ana (one of my host sisters) talked me into riding the Tagada with them. I've never seen a ride like it before, and honestly, I don't really see the point of it. I guess the only reason that it's fun is because it hurts and everyone laughs. It's this circle shaped ride, and everybody sits on it around the edges (and there are also people that stand in the middle) and has to hang on for dear life while it bounces and jolts and tilts and spins. There are no seatbelts, and I was extremely afraid I was going to fall, but I didn't. However, I have a wonderful bruise on my forearm and shoulder. I loved it, though.

After the fiestas, some of us went to the other Sofia's house and played cards and other games. There is one called Frutas (fruits), and everyone chooses a fruit for their name. One person starts and says, "Manzana, manzana llamando al aguacate, aguacate (Apple, apple calling avocado, avocado)". The catch is that you can't show your teeth when you say it, and neither can anyone else. The first person to laugh or talk with their teeth showing is the loser. I think we all about peed ourselves. There was also a game we played with cards in which whenever anyone lays a Jack, everyone has to say, "Buenas noches, caballero!". We all decided that it wasn't very fair that I have to say it in Spanish since I can't say it as fast as them, so we changed it to, "Good night, knight!"...which sounds pretty funny when you say it super fast in a large group. :)

I start school stuff tomorrow morning at eight thirty. That's a sick time to start school when you've been sleeping in until ten or eleven every morning for the past week. Anyway, it should be fun. The university is super, super close to my house, so I can walk there whenever I need to in, like, five minutes. I'm starting to figure out where things are in San Jose now, which is really nice. Only sort of, though. I'm still get pretty disoriented, but I can at least recognize where we are going when we're driving and things like that.

I've been dreaming a lot in Spanish, and it's getting really weird. I used to have dreams that had parts in Spanish, but now the majority is. I wake up thinking about it, and I'll remember it in Spanish, and it's sort of a shock. It's like, "Wait. That's not English." I'm learning a lot of the slang, and my comprehension gets better every day. I was afraid that hanging out with my friends in a big group tonight was going to be awkward because I thought they would talk amongst themselves and that I would just stand by trying to listen and not saying anything. At first that was what happened, but then it got better and I started to be able to understand most things. I still make a ton of mistakes, and I always feel really stupid speaking Spanish because I'm still so slow (Shamu makes fun of me), but they all assure me that I'm doing really well and it's really fluid, so I guess that's good. Anyway, I think that Sofy and I are going to go to bed now because I have to be up early.

Buenas noches a todos!